NEW HAVEN – New Haven officials continued efforts Tuesday to restrict and control adult entertainment businesses.
The City Council introduced two ordinances that would designate which businesses must apply for a city permit to operate. The council referred a third ordinance, which would determine which zoning districts such businesses would be allowed in, to the city’s plan commission. And the council tabled a fourth ordinance that deals with massage-related businesses.
City attorneys and officials have been working with a Tennessee attorney who specializes in writing and defending these types of ordinances, City Attorney David Van Gilder said.
The idea is not to restrict First Amendment rights, he said.
The proposed ordinances cite federal case law to support the city’s rationale for regulating such businesses. The proposed application and renewal fees are set low so that opening an adult bookstore or strip club isn’t cost-prohibitive or too restrictive, which could be seen as a violation of constitutional rights, Van Gilder said.
In general, the content of the sexually oriented business ordinances varies little from past versions that have been presented to the council. It limits the hours of operation, defines what types of business fall under the ordinance, and outlines the application and appeal process.
A separate zoning ordinance change would limit such businesses to industrially zoned areas of the city. New Haven provides a number of areas zoned industrial, which should give any would-be business owners some flexibility, Van Gilder said.
The ordinance would also prevent such locales from opening within 1,000 feet of a school, church, park or residential property.
The proposal also calls for amending an existing city law that regulates massage parlors.
The new version reflects a state law that took effect this year outlining how massage therapists can receive a state certification.
Any state-certified therapist would be exempt from the new city licensing process, which requires a background check. Businesses must also provide certain restroom facilities and meet sanitation requirements.
The idea is to not penalize legitimate massage therapists, officials said. The city’s current ordinance was drafted more than 10 years ago; the city had previously experienced a wave of massage parlors that acted as fronts for prostitution and other criminal enterprises.
Today, only one beauty salon offers massage as part of a legitimate business, Police Chief Mike Sweet said.
The ordinance was tabled so the fee schedule can be changed to match fees in the proposed adult business ordinance.
Mayor Terry McDonald reintroduced the idea of regulating adult entertainment after an adult novelty shop planned to open in the historic Castle Building this year. The shop never opened.
McDonald submitted a similar round of ordinances to the council in July. Council members declined to act then, asking for more time to study the issue and make recommendations to city attorneys.
